Passage to Fudaraku and Final Reflection on book

Passage to Fudaraku- This story was very different. I am a religious person but I could never see myself being so religious that I would let myself die at sea. It was crazy how Konko was able to remember every little detail about the past priests journeys. I do not know how Konko was able to bring himself to go on the journey to Fudaraku. It was kind of crazy how the people believed that once the dead priest's body reached the Island they would come back to life. I guess it is all a part of believing in reincarnation. If I were in Konko's situation and I saw how happy the people were to see me taking the journey I would probably get mad at them because all the journey would accomplish is my death. It was really mean of the priests to send Konko out on a second boat when he had used so much energy to get out of the casket. I was happy to see that, after Konko's journey had gone so bad, that the priests no longer made it mandatory to make the journey to Fudaraku. This story made me realize just how much some people follow their religion.

Final Reflection- Well I only had to read the first half of the book since Millie and I split it in half, but overall I liked what I did read of this book. Although some of the stories were very strange and icky there were others that I did really enjoy. I am glad that we did this project because I was able to learn a lot about Chinese and Japanese culture. If I had the time I would try and read the other half of the book, but since I do not have the time I am glad I got to read the first half of it.

Blind Chinese Soldiers and In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom

Blind Chinese Soldiers- This story was really sad and it made me want to cry. I am not really sure why the story talked about the Prince because he did not really play a significant role at all. The only reason I could see for having him in their is to show how in just one train you could be caring people from two totally different worlds. I felt so bad for the blind soldiers. I am sure when they signed up for the army they did not plan on having it end that badly. The Japanese soldiers could have at least tried to be a little bit nicer. I was shocked to see that the people were able to get over the thought of seeing the soldiers so quickly. If I would see something like that I would not be able to soon forget it.

In the Forest, Under the Cherries in Full Bloom- At first this story was ok and I was enjoying it and then all of a sudden it became really gross and disgusting. I wonder why the cherry blossoms in bloom made the people so scared. The story never really did say why the people were afraid of them in the first place. People have always claimed that men can become stupid when it comes to a girls beauty and this story fits that line perfectly. The robber was willing to do whatever the woman wanted, but I never thought the woman would become so evil. While reading I found myself, at first, defending the woman's actions because she had just seen her husband killed by the man she was now with, but as she went on I saw that she was completely crazy. When she wanted him to kill his wives I could understand, because she was jealous but it was still cruel. Then when she finally got him to move her to the capital she became a complete disgusting individual. The book got so gross throughout this part that it made me want to throw up while I was reading. I can never imagine why a person would want to line their house with other peoples dead heads. Also why did no one not notice the stench coming from their house or why wouldn't someone be wondering why people are turning up dead every night and being found with no head? The man was totally crazy for staying with the woman he should have gotten away as soon as possible, but no he stayed like an idiot. A part of me felt bad for him but another part of me knew that he was the one doing the killing. I was happy when the man decided to take the woman back to the mountains. I was not surprised at all when the woman turned into a demon in the cherry forest, and I was glad when the man killed her. I was mixed on how I felt when the man died too, but in the long run the world would be a lot safer without the both of them. I wonder what the old maid will do with all the heads when no one returns? Someone has to discover all those heads eventually!!!!!

The Accordian and the Fish Town and The Flower-Eating Crone

The Accordion and the Fish Town- This was a rather interesting story. I really liked the girl that was in it . Her mom was really mean to her; doesn't she know that growing girls are going to to eat more. The girl could not help it that she was hungry all the time. I don't understand why the father had to sell medicines and lotions for money. Why couldn't he just play his accordion and get people to give him money for his playing. I was surprised when the girl told her parents that she did not want to go to school she seemed really smart. I was happy when she did decide to go but then all of a sudden she quit because the kids were mean to her. Kids can be so cruel for no apparent reason. It was really scary when the old lady fell down the well. It was a relief to read that she was ok. You would think that they would try and put some fencing up around the well but no they just let it go. My heart went out to the girl when her mom told her that her dad had got arrested by the cops. That had to have been the worse news in the world; I do not know what I would do if someone told me that one of my parents was in jail. I wish that the story could have went on to tell what happened to her dad but I guess I will never know. I really liked this short story.



The Flower-Eating Crone- This story was very interesting to say the least. It was very strange when the old lady pulled one of the flowers off of the plant and stuck it straight in her mouth. I do not think I have ever heard of anyone eating a flower before. When the girl was reflecting back on her childhood and how she had always liked flowers but not eaten them in made me think of how little kids are always eating grass and worms. I feel bad for the two woman in the story when it comes to there eyes. It would be horrible to lose ones eye sight; I do not know how I would be able to manage without my eyes. It is bad enough when I don't have my glasses on in the morning. It was scary when the girl talked about having goblins and demons of her past haunt her. I felt sad for her when I read about how she use to have a beau but he was way to old for her. It must have been really hard to get the big brown envelope full of letters back from her beau's wife after he died. If I was the beau's wife I would have found it kind of hurtful that he still thought about his first love so much even though he was not married to her. I felt bad for the gentlemen in the park when the girl turned him down. I think the girl needs to let go of the past and get on with the future.

The Izu Dancer and Lemon

The Izu Dancer- This story was kind of boring; nothing really happened in it that was that interesting. It was kind of weird how the gentlemen who joined the performers only joined them because he thought that he could get the youngest geisha to sleep with him. When he found out that she was only 13 years old he definitely should have left her alone since he is 19 but he did not which was kind of gross. I was really happy that he was never allowed to be completely alone with the girl cause who knows what he would have done to her. It is so sad that she had to get caught up in that profession; especially at such a young age. I'm glad the gentleman and the young girl were still able to be friends with each other. The rest of the performing people seemed nice. It was strange how Chiyoko was married but yet she still hung out with all of the men. I do not understand how her husband was able to handle that. Overall this story was not the best one so far; but it was not the worst.

Lemon- This was a very weird story and it was kind of sad. I am starting to think that China was not very big on medicine because this is not the first story that I have read in the book where the guy was really sick and stayed sick for a long time. I am slightly confused about the whole lemon thing because I thought that the guy had an actual lemon and then when he left the lemon on his sculpture in the store he referred to the lemon as a bomb. So was it a lemon or a bomb that looked like a lemon that he left in the store? I am also starting to think that China might not be the greatest place to live; this is not the first guy in this book that was depressed.

Spring Riding in a Carriage and Carp

Spring Riding in a Carriage- This story wanted to make me cry the whole time I was reading it, it was so sad. It was horrible how the husband and wife fought all the time, but I know it was only because the husband knew the wife was dieing. It was upsetting how the wife was so cruel to her husband everything he did was not good enough for her. I am leaning my opinion on the fact that the wife felt bad that the husband had to give up his life to take care of her 24/7 and she really did not know how to show her emotions any other way. It would have had to have been really tough on the husband to just sit by and watch his wife slowly pass away and know there was nothing he could do about it. It was really weird that the lady wanted to eat chicken innards all the time. Most people when they are sick they want soup but not this lady. It was really sweet how the husband brought his wife some spring flowers before she passed away. It is such a shame that the lady had to die so young.



Carp- This story was not very good. I did not see the meaning of it. All the other stories so far have had some kind of meaning to me, but yet this one did not. I had never imagined that anyone would give someone a carp for a present. I guess there is a first time for everything. I also do not understand how the Carp troubled the man sure he had to move it around a lot bur still it was a gift and he should have been grateful. The man who received the fish seemed to be rude all around. He was awfully mean when his friend Aoki wad dieing, he could have taken it more seriously. I just did not care for this short story at all.

In a Grove and Bears of Nametoko

In a Grove and Bears- This story is about a murder but the weird part is that nobody really knows who murdered the man. Throughout the story a policeman interviews people about a mans death. At first everything makes sense the Priest's story falls in line with what the police know, a lower policeman's story falls in line with the high officer knows, and then out of no where a man named Tajomaru confesses to the murder. His tail of how the murder happened was very strange. I do not think I could someones beloved spouse just so I could get them to be with me. I would think that if a person did not want to be with you when their spouse was alive that when you kill their spouse they would not want to be with you even more. It was foolish of Tajomaru to think that the girl was telling the truth when she said she would be with him; it was stupid of him to be surprised when the girl was no where to be found. Well after reading this part it made sense and I thought that he was the killer but then all of a sudden the story goes on to talk about the confession of the dead man's wife. The wife confesses at a temple that she was the murderer of her husband because after Tajomaru had tied him to a tree she could see deep into his heart and she did not like what she saw. So if that did not confuse me enough the last account of the story comes from the dead man's spirit. You talk about a weird interview to have; the confession of the dead mans spirit. The spirit claimed that he wife was willing to go away with the robber to where ever he wanted to go and this made him mad. Then all of a sudden the robber turned to the man and asked if he wanted his wife killed but the girl ran away and then the man ran away. The spirit then claims that it kills its own self with a dagger. So the question still stands; who killed the man????

The Bears of Nametoko- This story was very unbelievable. I was following the story along pretty well until the bears started to talk. I felt real bad for the bears and Kojuro; neither of them liked the situation they were in. I felt bad for Kojuro because he loved the bears and did no want to have to kill them but at the same time he needed money to get food for his family. I also felt bad for the bears; they liked Kojuro a lot and it made them sad that Kojuro had to kill them. I wish Kojuro could have made a living in a different way. It was really sad and weird when the one bear talked to Kojuro and asked him not to kill him for another two years because he had things that needed to be done. The bear being able to talk reminded me of reincarnation and how some of the people believe in it. It makes me wonder if they are right or wrong to believe that animals were former people. I do not understand why Kojuro had to get killed by a bear; I guess it is because he had killed so many bears. It was weird to read about how the bears all gathered around the mans dead body and sat in a praying position about him. It was different to read about how the animals loved the man so dearly even though he killed them.

Blowfish and Portrait of an Old Geisha

Blowfish- This store was a little bit on the strange side. The story is all about this man who got sick on a business trip and never seemed to recover a 100%. On his way returning home the man eats a meal at one of his favorite restaurants. He love to eat blowfish at this restaurant even though he known it can be poisonous. Later on that day while the man goes to visit his favorite geisha he starts to feel sick and remembers the blowfish he ate and becomes really sick. The geisha called a doctor and by the evening he was not doing well. The man knew it had to be the blowfish that had made him sick. It was really strange how the Chinese buried Endo in the ground leaving his head out; because they believed that it would make him better. They sure do have some weird rituals. While Endo was in the ground he sort of came to and started dreaming of these weird situations with his job at the theater. This made me think of how people say that your life flashed before your eyes when you die and according to the story it must be true. Endo passed away shortly after. This story taught me never to eat anything as exotic as blowfish.

Portrait of an Old Geisha- This story was hard to figure out; I am still not sure if I liked the old geisha or if I found her utterly annoying. I think it is a little bit of both. It was great that the old geisha decided to retire and adopt her relative as her daughter, but I still do not understand why she had to take in a boy named Yuki and make her his little project. I guess she just had too much money for her own good. The geisha's daughter Michiko was also a very strange child. I do not see why she would try and string Yuki along but then never really truly seemed interested in him. I was surprised when Yuki started to get tired of being able to work on his inventions. I thought that he would have always been thrilled because the geisha gave him everything he ever wanted. I would have thought that the old geisha would not have cared when Yuki ran away but in reality it made her very angry. I don't understand why she couldn't just let Yuki go since he was miserable. I guess this story goes to show that money can not buy happiness!

Night Fires and Aguri

Sixth and Seventh story within the book. Night Fires was a story about how a mother can always sense when her child is in danger. It was really weird how K-stan and his friends just sat themselves down infront of another persons fire while the other people were sleeping in their tent. If I was the person in the tent and I woke up to find strangers sitting around my fire I would be really mad. K-stan's story about how his mom was able to tell that he was coming home early was very strange. How could his mom have possibly known that he was coming? People have always said about how a mother's bond with her child can never be broken and this really put that into perspective for me.
Aguri- this was a very sad story and it made me want to cry. I felt so bad for Okada it was such a shame that he had to become sick and not yet very old. It was strange that Okada described himself as girly looking; most guys would not say that about themselves. Although I felt bad for Okada because he was sick; I still thought it was extremely weird that he was dating somebody that was 17 and he is in his 40's that was kind of gross. It was really gross how every time Aguri would stop and look at him he would go into description of how this made him want her right then and there. I definitely could have done without that. I felt really bad for Okada when he fell down in the street and could not get up; Aguri was a jerk to not help him stand back up. This story was just very sad overall

The Separate Ways and The Peony Garden

These two stories are the fourth and fifth story in the book. The Separate Ways made me very angry I do not see why Kichizo was so willing to throw away his friendship with Okyo just because he did not like the fact that she was moving away, and going to work for a rich family. He was very foolish to let such a good thing go. Just because Kichizo had a big problem of losing people he loved did not mean that he had to push Okyo away just because she was leaving. Kichizo did not deserve to have Okyo's friendship if he was going to be that stupid. This story reminded me of the fights that I have with my friends over stupid stuff and how it sometimes takes us a really long time to get along again. I think Okyo is better off without Kichizo's friendship.
The Peony Garden is about a geisha girl named Koren and her lover. This story was kind of confusing. The two take themselves on a boat ride to get to the Honjo Peonies. I guess from what I read the two are on a secret trip. The couple are kind of strange because they talk about loving each other but yet they can not seem to be together and each one doesn't see why the other does not take another. Their relationshiop reminded me of a lot of relationships that a person hears about today. The couple loves each other but just can not seem to get along enough to be together. This was kind of a sad story. I felt bad for the couple that they could not get along enough because they seemed to really love each other. It was kind of upsetting how nothing every seemed to make the geisha happy. The guy did everythinghe could for her and she was still never happy. This just goes to show that greed can ruin everything.

The Third Night and The Bonfire

The next two stories I read were short so I am going to combine them into one entry. The Third Night is about an older gentlemen and a dream he is having. In the dream the older gentlemen is caring a young child on his back and he is walking through the woods. Throughout the dream the older man and the child carry on a strange conversation. The older gentlemen never seems to know what the child is talking about. This part of the story made me think modern day and how some of the older people do not understand the language that teenagers are using. At one point in the story the kid asks the older man if he is heavy and he says know and the kid tells him that he will soon become very heavy. Well eventually they reached this big tree in the middle of the woods and the kid told him "a hundred years ago you killed me", and the kid became heavy. To me the whole moral of the story was that your guilty conscience will always come back to haunt you, and that you can never escape your past.
The third story The Bonfire was a very sweet little story about how an older man found comfort in something that some children had done without even knowing it. When the older man found the bonfire on the beach it made me really happy because it was so cold and lonely. It was great to see how such a small thing could make such a big difference. It made me think of how everyone in the U.S. will slowly start to have to get used to the little things since the economy is crumbling.

Japanese short stories

So far this boook has been rather interesting. The first story I read was called Sansho the Steward and it was about a mother her two children and their nanny. The family is traveling across China to go find the father of the family that left a couple of years ago and had never returned. As if that was not sad enough the family ends up getting seperated by slave traders. I felt so bad for the kids when this happened it made me want to cry. The family getting seperated remined me of the video clip we saw on slave trading. It also reminded me of the movie Taken, which is about a slave ring. It was amazing how the two kids were able to survive on their own at the kings mansion. It was really sad when the girl Anju decided to stay behind when she hellped her brother Zushio escape. It was really creepy how at the end of the story the boy ended up finding his mother again after so many years of looking for her. It just goes to show that no matter what you can always come back to your family. This story was very cute and I enjoyed it a lot.

Three Cups of Tea Overview

Three cups of Tea was an exceptional book and I truly liked it. It opened my eyes up to so many things. I never knew much about the Middle East besides the fact that we are at war with them and this book made me look at them in a new perspective. Gregg is truly doing a selfless thing in Pakistan and hopefully someday I can do something as selfless.

I truly admire Gregg for his determination and spirit. There is no way that I could have gone over there and gone through the things he has been through. I was so scared when he got captured while he was over there. Thinking how scared I was from just reading I can just imagine how scared he must have been to be the one captive. I can not fathom how he was able to make himself not want to never go back after this happened. It was amazing how he was able to learn so much about the Pakistani culture in so little time. It is great how one person has been able to open up the world's eyes the lack of education for children in other countries. I was surprised to see that not everyone in the world is getting free education like the kids in the United States.

I am so glad that Gregg was able to meet people like Hajji Ali while he was in Pakistan. Gregg also met some bad people I can not believe that the one person took some of Mortenson's supplies. You think that all the people in Pakistan would have loved the fact that he was willing to educate their children. I am so glad that we got to read this book. I hope Gregg never stops building schools he is definitely an exceptional man. I am very excited about the fact that our class is going to raise money for his charity. It is great to know that we can make such an impact on another child's life.